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Sam Allen and Edwin Harrison promised to stay in touch when Allen suddenly retired from football last week.

So Harrison might want to send Allen a thank-you note for handing over a starting position with the Calgary Stampeders.

“I should have sent him a text saying, ‘This is messed up — you are making me take all these reps now. I don’t get a break now,’ ” Harrison said with a laugh.

“Sam and I joked around a lot. We had a great time, whether it was playing against people in pre-season or competing against each other.

I really enjoyed myself, and I’m happy I got a chance to meet him.”

If there was going to be one player conceding the right tackle starting slot to another, it appeared it was going to be Harrison.

In the first pre-season outing at Edmonton, Harrison went down awkwardly with a knee injury and needed to be carted off.

Turns out it was just an MCL sprain, and the 25-year-old import was able to return earlier than first diagnosed.

He was practising with the first-team offence Sunday as the Stamps get ready to face the Toronto Argonauts Thursday at McMahon Stadium.

When the injury first happened, Harrison thought he was certainly not going to be starting opening night.

“Moreso than anything, I thought immediately I wasn’t going to play football,” said the Colorado product, who finished college in 2007.

“I hadn’t played in a long time. That was the first thing that came to my mind. Just being out there competing — whether it was a starter or backup, I don’t mind — but being away from the field would be hard for me to deal with.”